Cons:

As a Celtics fan, the upcoming hoops season has been one of the most anticipated in a very long time. Seeing Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett all sporting the green should make the long winter a whole lot more bearable. As a gamer, I've also been looking forward to this season. Last year, we got to wrap our thumbs around a sub-par NBA 07 and a pretty solid NBA 2K7. This year looked to be a real showdown. Not only would both Sony and 2K Sports have had almost an entire year of development experience under their belts, but juggernaut EA Sports was entering the fray with its NBA Live 08. There are some things to like about NBA 08, but I'm not sure if it's enough to rank it above the competition. Sony's MLB series has hit a home run the last two seasons, but I think development is learning that it's a heck of a lot harder to hit a home run in basketball.

Back before its MLB series was king of the diamond -- back when the franchise was the Devil Rays of the video baseball world -- the game's Spring Training mode (now called Road to the Show) was about the only thing that made the game playable. It was a create-a-player and then level him up deal that was the archetype of what's now found in a lot of games. NBA 08 offers a tweak on that concept, and almost like in the old days, it's one of the main things that makes the game playable.

The first time you fire up the game, you're asked to create a player. You get to fiddle with his looks, name, position, etc. His initial stats are low -- twelfth-man numbers. Your job is to raise his stats and make him a legitimate baller. Unlike in other games, you don't necessarily have to use him to level him up. Various things you do while playing through 08 will score you experience points that you can then use to boost his attributes. (You can also ignore the whole created player thing entirely and use the points to unlock old arenas and uniforms or different intro videos.) What's cool about this leveling-up process is that I can play through an exhibition game, a season, etc. and still be working towards building the big man that'll eventually join the Celtics' new "Big Three."

You'll notice that when I mentioned the ways to play the game, I didn't say anything about a franchise or dynasty mode. Still AWOL from the series is a chance to throw on your GM hat and manage a team for more than one season. And that's not to say the single-season mode is perfect. Since there's no virtual David Stern overlooking everything that's going on, you can do what you want when it comes to trades and easily build a behemoth by trading bench players for the league's elite. It takes a lot of the reality out of things. In the real world, Celts GM Danny Ainge had to make a deal with the devil -- and then the Sonics and the Timberwolves -- to put together what will be the most dominant team in the league this year.

Of course, just having a killer roster is only half the battle. The games are still played on the court. Your eyes will be happy with the way things look when you're out on the floor -- and your ears will be surprised that the series now uses play-by-play announcers. Visually, the game shines. For the second year in a row, it offers full 1080p output. There are still some problems with the graphics, though. Clipping is still a concern. Players could just as easily be called for reach-through fouls as reach-in fouls.